Chiropractic care for office and remote workers in St. Thomas

A lot of the work on St. Thomas happens at a desk. Government offices and banks in Charlotte Amalie, hotel back offices, dispatch and call-center desks, and people who moved to the island to work remotely and now spend the day on a laptop at the dining table or the couch. The view is better than the one you left. The chair usually is not.

Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness is in Charlotte Amalie, in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, just east of town. We treat residents, visitors, and boat and charter crew. Dr. Keys is the Chair of the Virgin Islands Board of Chiropractic Examiners, a member of the Virgin Islands Chiropractic Society, and the International Chiropractors Association representative for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

What sitting all day does

Sitting in the same shape for eight hours, most days, for years, adds up. This is the pattern we see in desk workers.

• Neck forward. The head drifts toward the screen, and every inch forward adds load to the muscles at the back of the neck. People call it tech neck. It feels like a stiff, burning band across the tops of the shoulders by mid-afternoon. See our neck pain page.
• Upper back rounded. The mid-back settles into a slump and stops extending. Checking a blind spot in the car starts to feel like work. See our upper back pain page.
• Headaches at the base of the skull. Tight muscles under the skull and stiff upper neck joints refer pain over the back of the head and behind the eyes. See our headaches and migraines page.
• Hips tight, low back sore. Hip flexors shorten in a chair, the glutes switch off, and the low back takes over. Sitting tolerance shrinks. See our lower back pain page.
• Numb or tingling hands. Sometimes it is the wrist, from a laptop keyboard with the wrists bent back for hours. Sometimes it is the neck, where a pinched nerve sends pins and needles down the arm. The exam tells us which. See our numbness in hands and arms page and our pinched nerve page.

What we do about it

The first visit is a history and an exam of how you move, with digital posture analysis so we can show you what your head, shoulders and pelvis are doing. Digital x-rays if the history calls for them. Then, when it is appropriate, the adjustment: neck and upper back for the tech neck pattern, low back and pelvis for the sitting problem. Dr. Keys uses Gonstead and Diversified techniques, and the drop table or flexion-distraction when a gentler approach is called for. Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization works well on the forearm and upper trapezius tightness. Massage therapy is available in the same office.

Rehab is short on purpose. Three or four exercises that fit inside a workday, not a forty-minute program nobody does.

• Chin tucks at the desk, ten slow reps, a few times a day.
• Thoracic extension over the back of the chair.
• A hip flexor stretch, one knee down, thirty seconds a side.
• A doorway stretch for the chest and the front of the shoulders.

Your workstation, in one paragraph

Most desk pain has a workstation behind it. Screen at eye height. On a laptop, that means a stand or a stack of books under it and an external keyboard and mouse. Elbows at a right angle, hips at a right angle, feet flat on the floor or on a box. A couch or a dining chair works for an hour, not for eight. Stand up or walk every 30 to 45 minutes. Set a timer.

Hours that fit a workday

Tuesday and Friday we open at 7:00 am, so you can be seen and at your desk by 8:30. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday we run evenings to 7:00 pm. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments.

When to see someone else

Not every pain at a desk comes from the desk. Call 911 or go to the emergency room for:

• Chest pain or pressure, especially with shortness of breath, sweating, or pain into the jaw or the left arm. Upper back and arm pain can be a heart problem.
• Sudden one-sided weakness, a drooping face, or trouble speaking.
• The worst headache of your life, or a headache with fever and a stiff neck.

See a physician or a neurologist, and we will refer you, if numbness in a hand is spreading or you are losing grip strength. Loss of bowel or bladder control, numbness in the saddle area, fever with back pain, or back pain after a fall or crash all need a medical workup before any adjustment. If the exam points to a disc pressing on a nerve, Dr. Keys will tell you and send you for imaging rather than adjust around it. Our free spinal MRI review is still offered: bring the disc in and Dr. Keys goes over it with you. Medicare patients are not eligible for it.

Getting seen

Call (340) 690-4994 or email info@tradewindschiropractic.com. We are in the VI Medical Foundation Building, Suite 202, 9150 Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, USVI 00802. Hours are Mon, Wed, Thu: 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm; Tue, Fri: 7:00 am to 2:00 pm; closed Sat and Sun. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments. Our full list of services is on the services page.

Questions patients ask

Is there a chiropractor for desk workers with neck pain in St. Thomas?

Yes. Tradewinds Chiropractic & Wellness in Charlotte Amalie treats a lot of office and remote workers with neck, upper back and low back pain from sitting. The first visit includes a posture analysis and a look at how your workstation is set up. Call (340) 690-4994.

I have tech neck from my laptop. Who can help in St. Thomas?

We can. Tech neck is a forward head posture that overloads the neck and upper back, and it responds well to adjusting, soft tissue work, and a few short exercises. The laptop itself is usually part of the problem, so we will also show you how to raise the screen and add an external keyboard.

I am a remote worker with back pain in the USVI. Is a better chair enough?

A better chair helps, and so does getting up every 30 to 45 minutes, but if the low back has already locked up or the hips have tightened, the chair alone will not undo it. An exam, an adjustment, and a short home program usually move things faster. We will tell you after the exam what to expect.

How many visits does desk-related neck or back pain usually take?

It depends on how long it has been going on. A recent flare often settles in a handful of visits. Something that has built up over years of sitting takes longer and leans more on the exercises and the workstation changes than on the adjustment. We set expectations at the first visit and revisit them as we go.

Can I get an appointment before work or after 5?

Yes. We open at 7:00 am on Tuesday and Friday and stay open to 7:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We take walk-ins and same-day appointments.